Stromling
This article is about the specific breed. You may be looking for Stromlings, which refers to all Maelstrom enemies within the game. Stromlings are basic Minifigure Stromlings encountered across the LEGO Universe. Shortly after the founding of Nexus Force, a minor explosion at Paradox Research Facility allowed the Darkitect to memorize the form and anatomy of Minifigures, allowing him to create Minifigure Stromlings in the dark clouds of the Maelstrom. The Darkitect spread these Stromlings across the LEGO Universe to destroy Imagination and leave chaos in their wake. A more recent explosion at Paradox Research Facility caused by the Spider Queen released far more devastating Maelstrom energies, corrupting many Paradox researchers into Stromlings. These Stromlings have infested the area around the wrecked Research Facility, forcing the Sentinels to construct a checkpoint from nearby debris to prevent the Stromlings from spreading to the Monument. Stromlings made their first appearance in the "Answer the Call" LEGO Universe trailer. In this trailer, Stromlings take over Zorillo Plaza and disguise themselves with cardboard cut-outs of Minifigures. When a Stromling spots the Nexus Force Faction Leaders, it leads the charge towards the Nexus Force. After the battle, a Stromling stumbles about the plaza, knocking over a cardboard Minifigure cut-out and falling to the ground. In the Battle of Nimbus Station based upon this trailer, Stromlings are common enemies appearing under the command of Murgle Blotch. Stromlings also appear in the Great Minifig Mission. In Mission 12, Stromlings are identified based upon their origin and risk level, and then they appear as targets throughout a town modeled after Zorillo Plaza. Their dangerous risk level plays a role in Mission 20. Stromlings make their first in-game appearance at the Log-In Screen. There, a Stromling occasionally pops up from the sides of the screen or from behind the log-in area to look at the player before quickly retreating. Stromlings are the most common enemy encountered by players in Avant Gardens as a result of the Spider Queen's escape from Paradox Research Facility. Since they are the first enemies encountered by players in the game, they are also the weakest, as their blade only inflicts 1 damage and they only have 1 Life. They can be found in the battlefield around Paradox Research Facility and, as of the Power of the Nexus Force update, they can also be found in the first cavern of the Maelstrom Mine. However, any Stromling that wanders too close to Epsilon Starcracker's outpost or Sentinel Base Camp will be quickly dispatched by Epsilon Starcracker or a Sentinel Faction Guard. Epsilon Starcracker assigns players with a Mission and later Daily Missions to smash Stromlings. Stromlings also appear in Avant Gardens Survival. Although these Stromlings are just as weak as their brethren in the main battlefield, they react much more quickly to players' presence and will instantly run towards the nearest player, instead of idly wandering the battlefield until a player comes close. Two enhanced breeds of Stromlings appear as the Survival Instance continues: Chainsaw Stromlings and Hammer Stromlings. Stromlings spawned by Maelstrom Generators occupy Avant Grove and Nimbus Rock properties. They attack players who wish to clear the property, and will endlessly respawn until the Maelstrom Generator is smashed. After clearing Raven Bluff, players are rewarded with a Behavior that spawns Stromlings on their properties. Stromlings makes a cameo appearance during the races held at Dragonmaw Chasm in Forbidden Valley. When players drive through the Stromling-infested tunnels underneath Paradox Refinery, two Stromlings can be glimpsed watching the race from either side of the tunnel, cheering alongside Stromling Pirates. Sometime during the week of 9/4/11 - 9/10/11, a Stromling sneaked into the Sentinel Base Camp, and Fitz Vanderbuilt found it sleeping on the RV gate. He accidentally woke it up, and it created chaos and anarchy in the camp as it ran around in a game of Stromling hide-and-seek. The Stromling eventually found Klaus Zett's carton of Quicksicles and ate the Consumables. As a result, the Stromling was moving incredibly quickly and leaping through the air like a jumping bean, making it even harder for the local Sentinels to capture. The local Stromlings were punished by the Sentinels with an Avant Gardens Survival Contest.Avant Gardens Survival Contest Related Missions and Achievements *Smash or Be Smashed *Avant Guardian *Paradox Protector *Brains! Attacks *'Swipe': The Stromling slashes with its blade arm, a short-ranged attack that deals 1 damage on impact. Maelstrom Monster Bio History: During the early days of the Nexus Force, an accidental explosion broke tubes pumping Maelstrom energy into the Paradox Research Facility in Avant Gardens. The essence of chaos and destruction swirled around its Paradox researchers, who were studying the dark powers of the Maelstrom hoping to find a weakness. Seeing an opportunity, the Darkitect reached out with the Maelstrom and memorized their forms, mimicking their makeup to recreate them in the chaotic image of the Maelstrom. The results were beings that appeared as twisted Minifigures glowing with dark Maelstrom energy – creatures now known as Stromlings. As infantry of the Darkitect, new Stromlings are constantly being formed in the dark clouds of the Maelstrom. Due to the chaotic nature of Maelstrom energy, no two look quite the same. Stats: 1 Life Points, 0 Armor Points Attacks: Short ranged swipe that deals 1 damage. Tactics: Though relatively weak on their own, basic Stromlings can be surprisingly dangerous when they surround a Minifigure without advanced protective gear. If you find yourself surrounded by Stromlings, double-jump away until you are facing all of them – their slow speed should allow you to either find a good place to smash them all from one angle, or easily escape. When in Avant Gardens, it is wise to look over your shoulder occasionally to check if you’ve got a Stromling tailing you. Those attempting the Survival mission for Melodie Foxtrot may encounter Stromlings wielding chainsaws or hammers. Use the same strategy for these Stromlings, but watch out for the increased damage of their attacks. Though Bjorn Fjord swears by his beard that a well-performed electric guitar solo will stun Stromlings in place, this has not been confirmed by Paradox scientists, and is therefore not a strategy endorsed by the Paradox. Beta Information Stromlings originated as Strombies; Maelstrom-infected zombie minifigures found in early versions of Avant Gardens. The concept later expanded as Strombie Pirates and Strombie Captains were created for Gnarled Forest. Though all Strombie-type enemies usually used a generic "skeleton hybrid" model as a placeholder, with the head and torso of a skeleton and legs of a normal minifigure, a Strombie texture with green skin and purple eyes is also present in the game data. It is unknown exactly when or where this texture may have been used. At some point before alpha testing, the term Strombie was replaced with "Darkling" (possibly to be more consistent with other types of Maelstrom enemies), though the term "Strombie" is still often used to describe some zombie-esque minifigure enemies in the game data. As development of Avant Gardens progressed, Strombies/Darklings were given a more unique appearance, with black clothes, a black upside-down beard for a hairpiece, and a 1x1 cylinder attached to a skeleton leg for a left arm.Pod 4 at The Bradford Rant Institute of Cosmic Kinesis Later Darklings wore grey clothes, a brown backpack, and a purple beard. This later version appeared as a smashed Stromling corpse in the Maelstrom Mine during alpha and beta testing. Darklings were eventually renamed Stromlings in very early beta testing. When a fourth Maelstrom Dragon was given the ability to summon Dark Ronin in Maelstrom Valley, Stromlings appeared instead during mid-beta testing. Although they used the models, animations, and sound effects of Stromlings, these Stromlings were called "Dark Ronin" and had the health bar of the Forbidden Valley Dragon Battle Dark Ronin. Prior to the Power of the Nexus Force update, Stromlings appeared at the uncleared Block Yard property, spawned by a Maelstrom Generator. Due to the revised Avant Gardens storyline, the Stromlings and Maelstrom Generator were removed from Block Yard and replaced by the Spider Queen Battle. Trivia *A named Stromling is present in the game data, one of many unimplemented named enemies. This "NAMED STROMLING" was planned to appear in Avant Gardens, and has the appearance of a Hammer Stromling. *The corpse of a smashed Stromling can be seen in the first cavern of the Maelstrom Mine. *The Stromling that appears on the login screen still uses the appearance Stromlings had in beta testing *Although Bjorn Fjord swears by his beard that a well-performed electric guitar solo will stun Stromlings, this strategy is unconfirmed and thus not endorsed by Paradox. *One of the prizes of the Nexus Force Championship Avant Gardens Survival event was a Stromling Shirt. *A Stromling Disguise was in development before LEGO Universe's closure was announced. Pieces of the disguise were sent out to players' Mailboxes by Mythrans in the weeks before LEGO Universe closed. *Mythrans can use a Macro Code to spawn Stromlings which have far more health than normal Stromlings, reminiscent of the Maelstrom Valley beta "Dark Ronin" Stromlings. *On January 29, 2012, the Stromling blade, labeled Objects_10430_name, was given away by a Mythran to players' Mailboxes. See Also *Chainsaw Stromling *Hammer Stromling *Stromling Invader External Links *Maelstrom Monster Bio: Stromling References Gallery Strombie.png|A Strombie texture NimbusPark darkling attack01 small.jpg|Concept art by Peter Coene Vlcsnap-2012-01-19-16h25m12s62.png|Early Stromlings using the skeleton hybrid model Stromling concept art.png|Concept art Dave Kang - Sentinels vs Stromlings.png|Concept art by Dave Kang Darkling paint01.jpg|Concept art by Richard Tran Stromling group.jpg|Concept art by Richard Tran Test Strombie.png|An early Stromling test model (matching textures no longer exist, only using vertex colors) BRICKStromlings.png|Early Stromlings outside Paradox Research Facility BRICKEncampment.png|An early Stromling outside Sentinel Base Camp Early stromlings.PNG|Early Stromlings with brown backpacks Env nim darkling-color.png|Early texture Strombie decal.png|Another early texture Strombie glow.png|Early glow decal LU beta 56.png|A close-up of a Stromling in beta testing LU beta 57.png|A player fighting Stromlings in beta testing AnswerTheCall-Stromling.png|A Stromling in the "Answer the Call" trailer AnswerTheCall-ShoulderToLeanOn.png|A Stromling in the "Answer the Call" trailer PicC8E40C1D273776864D6188C64BA402F6.jpg|Stromling on LEGO.com PicD0ABF94C012418E0F5CC2A1845A2759A.jpg|Stromling on LEGO.com Pic9BE365CFFD55F323796FBC738FDDE7F1.jpg|Stromling on LEGO.com Pic4473B1382FE5B8D8D7D338C81BFC0C8E.jpg|Stromling on LEGO.com Pic7586706A0F23FDEE5F7D45CA8531EA02.jpg|Stromling on LEGO.com PicC233134552C4B3B6171E5CB00A54A716.jpg|Stromling on LEGO.com LEGO_Universe_2011-12-26_17-44-05.jpg|A Stromling in the Log-In Screen Stromling in-game.png|A Stromling in Avant Gardens Stromling In-game.png|A Stromling in the Maelstrom Mine AGspiderremains.png|The smashed Stromling in alpha and beta testing Smashed Stromling.PNG|A smashed Stromling in the Maelstrom Mine Cre strombie.png|The finalized Stromling texture Stromling.png|Three Stromlings News style Stromling.jpg|Maelstrom Monster Bio: Stromling artwork NAMED STROMLING.png|The unimplemented "NAMED STROMLING" NAMED STROMLING 2.png|The unimplemented "NAMED STROMLING" Torsos SurvivalStromling I5.png|Survival Stromling Shirt LEGO Universe F2P Key Visual.jpg|Stromlings on Crux Prime Mission disguise stromling.png|Stromling Disguise Category:Maelstrom Category:Stromlings Category:Avant Gardens Category:Enemies